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Archive for the ‘Fiction’ Category
This Just In: Fiction
Tuesday, May 21st, 2013You Review: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngochi Adichie
Thursday, April 18th, 2013Reviewed by Şirin Tugbay
I first came across Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie through her TED talk on the “single story”, in which she talks about the cultural misunderstanding that arises if we hear only a single story about another person of country. Her talk was intelligent, but also funny in that clever way that not everyone can muster. I savoured the TED talk but did not explore her any further. Months later, I spotted Americanah on a list of most anticipated books of 2013 and read the short synopsis – yet I failed to make the connection with Adichie. But I liked the idea: here is a book about Nigerian youth going abroad for a better education and a better life, and returning to Nigeria for whatever their reason may be. I didn’t know that much about Nigeria, so the single story communicated to me by the media would be challenged. I liked that. I also liked the fact that as an expat in the Netherlands, I might understand some of the struggles the characters might have as expats. Thus I got my hands on Americanah, and started my journey.
Americanah is the story of Ifemelu and Obinze, two Nigerian high school sweethearts. In Nigeria, with its corrupt politics peeking from around every corner of life, where going abroad to England and America is the biggest dream students have, Ifemelu and Obinze have dreams of their own. Obinze, the son of a university professor, is obsessed with American literature, devours books and dreams of moving to America. Ifemelu, well-read, strong minded and honest to a fault, connects with Obinze from the moment they set eyes on each other. Yet life takes them to different places: Ifemelu to America (with Obinze’s plan to join her later) and Obinze eventually to England. Both discover quickly that these dream destinations for a better life are far from perfect, and experience hardship on a completely different scale than in Nigeria.
It would be too simplistic to call Americanah a book about Obinze and Ifemelu. Through Obinze and Ifemelu, their parents and their friends, Adichie takes us through Nigeria with its chaotic beauty and its own way of life, through race and racism, through immigration and identity. Not only does Americanah challenge the reader’s single story of Nigeria, but it does so to the single stories of America and England. I was pleasantly surprised, nodded furiously at times, and read about experiences that I will probably never fully grasp, and I highly recommend it to all.
You Review: The latest releases, reviewed by ABC customers.
You Review: The Twins by Saskia Sarginson
Saturday, April 6th, 2013Review by Anouschka van Leeuwen 
This debut novel is about Viola and Isolte, identical twins who grew up in the woods of Suffolk but in now living in London. Both start telling the stories from their past while they struggle with their own, current problems. Viola has an eating disorder, while Isolte has a tough time concentrating on her job at a fashion magazine.
Within each chapter, the past and present are alternated. We know something bad has happened in the twins’ past, but only figure this out towards the end of the book. This makes for a nice sort of suspense, although this is by no means a detective or a thriller. The book is about the psychological struggle of dealing with the past.
I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes in the forest during Viola and Isolte’s childhood. It gave me a sense of being there with them, and I noticed I came to care for them as the novel progressed. At some point in the beginning of the story I was wondering whether the whole book would be about reminiscing about the past, which would have made it a bit dull. To my relief, the author gives us a change in scenery at about halfway through the book. This turn of events renewed my interest and led to some unexpected revelations in the story.
The back flap compares the book to a Maggie O’Farrell novel, but that would be too much praise (a more obvious comparison would be to Audrey Niffenegger’s Her Fearful Symmetry, also dealing with twin girls). The Twins is a great read, but not without its flaws. It gets a little clichéd towards the end, and at some points contains overly explicit descriptions of the characters’ behaviors or feelings, which spoil the otherwise subtle conveyance of the author’s meaning. These (beginner?) mistakes are easily forgiven though, because in general it was a compelling read. I am looking forward to Saski Sarginson’s next project.
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You Review: Osiris by E. J. Swift
Wednesday, March 27th, 2013Reviewed by David Swatling
“When it comes to genres, the borders are increasingly undefended,” wrote author Margaret Atwood on the difference between sci-fi and speculative fiction. She sees the latter as stories descended from the books of Jules Verne about events that really could occur but simply hadn’t happened – yet. This places the imaginative debut novel Osiris by E.J. Swift squarely in the arena of speculative fiction – or more specifically, in the realm of a subgenre that has been dubbed cli-fi.
Swift conjures a vivid city of glass towers and pyramids rising from the ocean, the last haven in a world devoid of land – as far as the inhabitants are aware. No one has dared undertake an expedition to confirm this fact for a very long time.
This watery universe is presented through the alternating voices of two young protagonists: Adelaide Mystik, rebellious daughter of a wealthy founding family; and Vikram Bai, impoverished refugee of the Western Quarter. After they both witness a public execution (by drowning, of course) their lives become inextricably entangled. Adelaide needs help to search for her missing twin brother. Vikram needs support to plead his case for reform before the Counsel. Neither fully trusts the other, but time is running out and rules need to be broken.
Swift writes with assured elegance and her eco-dystopian vision is politically complex. Although Osiris dives into the deep end with a strong start, the midstream narrative tends to tread water for too long before powering to the finish line. Since this is only Book One of a projected series (The Osiris Project) one hopes the talented author will overcome the structural stumbles of her first novel, just as her engaging young heroes meet the challenges of the precarious future she has created for them.
You Review: The latest releases, reviewed by ABC customers.
